


The Day Aurora Dies

by ToraOkami303



Series: Optimus adopts Aurora AU [7]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Intergalactic War, Mentions of Child Soliders, Mentions of serious injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:49:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28937295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToraOkami303/pseuds/ToraOkami303
Summary: Aurora Stella Pax has lived a kind of incredible life so far, with an incredible family. Despite that life taking place during an intergalactic war she never considered the possibility that at the young age of 19 she might die... she probably should have.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Optimus adopts Aurora AU [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922392





	1. Chapter One: Calm before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> The name of the fic and the tags should definitely be heeded friends, this is going to get worse before it gets better but I promise a happy ending because I’m too much a sucker for them to not have a happy ending.
> 
> Beta Reader: PastelAgender

Aurora rushes into the rec room snickering as she uses the rungs and platforms built into the furniture for the humans to climb, swing and leap her way up onto a bot sized table. Annabelle is not far behind trying not to laugh herself, bounding from ledge, stair and beam to get up onto the table with her best friend. Once they are both on the table they collapse onto its surface in a fit of giggles then out right laughter at the prank they just pulled.

Several bots watch the pair of humans with amused optics, EM fields flickering towards each other as they enjoy the mirthful break from the war. Bee approaches the young ladies with a huge grin on his face, his doorwings flickering with excitement.

“Did it work? Oh please tell me these are ‘it worked’ giggles!” He asks excitedly leaning on the edge of the table to look down at the pair with wide pleading blue optics.

“It worked!” Aurora squeals rolling onto her stomach still laughing in fits and spurts.

“We got Fowler good!” Annabelle confirms clutching her stomach, gasping for air as her ribs hurt she’s been laughing so hard.

Bee hops up pumping a fist in the air as he whirrs excitedly at the news.

“Do I even want to know what you did to Fowler?” Prowl asks from where he was getting his morning energon, opticing the trio.

“Ah know Ah sure do.” Jazz says hopping to sit on the counter next to Prowl, blocking the Praxian’s access to the dispenser. Which earns him a glare he casually ignores.

“You- You’ll see” Aurora wheezes as she tries to settle down before Fowler thinks to come in here after them. 

Annabelle just nods jerkily as she takes long deep breaths to calm down.

Bee drops his arm quickly training his field and frame, his spec ops training good for pretending like he knows absolutely nothing about what’s going on.

Prowl scoops up Jazz, causing the Poly to start purring until he is unceremoniously dumped on the floor a few feet away from the counter. Prowl takes his mates brief stunned silence to grab his fuel, doorwings twitching amused as he sips his morning fuel. He turns to leave, deciding he does not want to be caught up in this until he has no choice.

Jazz stares after his mate intake hanging open before he closes it and clutches a servo dramatically to his chest.

“Ah see ‘ow it is! Poor ol’ Jazzy is just in da way!” He gasps with mock offense, using the cover of his visor to watch his mate with a calculating optic.

Prowl’s lipplates twitch, smirking briefly but otherwise he gives his mate’s dramatics no reaction and proceeds to walk swiftly away. He dodges Optimus as the much larger mech makes his way into the rec room.

“Prime.” He nods respectfully heading off in the direction of his office.

“Prowl.” Optimus replies slightly confused by Jazz laying dramatically on the floor near the fuel dispense, Aurora and Annabelle gasping for air on one of the tables, and Bumblebee looking  _ entirely too innocent _ nearby.

“I am unsure if I would like to know what I missed.” He murmurs moving to grab his own fuel before sitting at the table Aurora and Annabelle are laying on.

Aurora and Annabelle sit up shoulders still occasionally shaking with silent laughter as they use breathing techniques to calm down the rest of the way.

“Mah mate dumped me on da floor!” Jazz exclaims, with dramatic indignation. He clutches his chest plates as if his spark is wounded.

“Ah I see, how terrible” Optimus replies flatly, shaking his helm at his friend’s antics. 

“And you two?” He questions looking down at the pair of women sitting cross legged on the table.

“Nothing~” They chorus together, the picture of innocence. A picture Optimus knows better than to trust, they are both little troublemakers.

“Mmm So I won’t be having to deal with any upset humans later?” He questions sipping his fuel and looking down at the pair with a raised optic ridge.

“Uhh.. no?” Annabelle says almost like a question as she looks up at her best friend’s father with her best innocent grin.

Before Optimus can open his intake to ask more questions, explosions rock the base nearly tossing the pair of humans off the table with their force. He quickly scoops them both up bracing them against his chest as he crouched next to the overturned table.

Neither of the girls have time to scream before Optimus is pushing them out a side entrance away from the attack.

“Run Aurora! Run Annabelle!” he yells as his battle mask closes.


	2. Chapter Two: Aurora runs from the Pit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader: PastelAgender

Annabelle quickly takes around the side of the building leaving Aurora behind, no time to explain what she’s going for. Aurora hears a crack as an Ingrux jumps down from the half shattered roof onto a fallen branch. Before she can even really think she takes off running in the opposite direction as Annabelle, hoping to lose the alien in the forest and loop back around the way Annabelle went.

She runs dodging the trees as she disappears further and further into the trees. She gasps ducking under a branch silently thanking Lennox for ensuring her and Annabelle kept up with exercising, even after they graduated highschool. She hopes to Primus that Annabelle is okay wherever she ran off to, she doesn’t know what she would do without her best friend. She has faith her Pa and Uncles will be able to handle themselves but she and Annabelle are helpless. They really need to start training with guns or something for self defense, they are in a war for Primus sake.

“You cannot outrun me” the Ingrux calls calmly, from decidedly not where Aurora last tracked them being.

“I sure as pit can try!” she yells back before bobbing and ducking leaving a false trail before booking it in a different direction. She’s not sure how the thing is tracking her, the false trails might be useless but it’s worth attempting to throw it off. No, not it. Even if they are cruel and evil they are alive.

She gives a hysterical laugh as she realizes not an hour ago she was just pulling pranks in base and now she’s running for her life from... from a  _ kid _ basically. These fraggers have their  _ kids _ fighting in this war with them. She feels hot tears drip down her face at the thought, it's not fair.  _ Her _ Pa made sure to keep her out of the war as much as possible, which maybe in hindsight was a short sighted decision but at least he  _ tried _ to give her a normal childhood.

Do the Ingrux kids resent their lot in life? Or are they happy to go to war with their elders? She almost wishes she could ask the one chasing her but she’s pretty sure they are all too happy to kill her if she slows down. She continues to desperately wind her way through the forest, hoping to lose her pursuer but they never seem to falter. They almost seem to know what direction she is going to go in before she does.

She bursts out into a clearing, her lungs burning from running for so long. It was early morning when this started and now the sun is high in the sky, practically blinding her. She almost doesn’t see the cliff before she runs full force into it. She gasps and curses turning to run a different direction but the Ingrux is already in the clearing, barreling down on her.

Aurora backs up against a cliff quietly chanting every curse she knows, the Ingrux in front of her stalks closer. They had been chasing her as a human but now they snapped and twisted into a monstrous form nearly 3 times Aurora’s height. She clenches her mouth shut, deciding if she’s going to die here she refuses to give the creature the satisfaction of hearing her beg. She can hear the sounds of the battle, she’s not sure if she accidentally led the chase back towards the base or if the battlefield had moved away from the base and she had nearly stumbled across it. It hardly matters, there’s no way with all the trees still standing anyone will be able to race to her in time.

The Ingrux lifts what seems to be a large monstrous tentacle where an arm would be and swings it at Aurora. She braces herself biting her lip to try and remain silent but as it slams into her the pain is too much. She screams as she is flung several dozen feet to the side. She’s fairly sure she must have slammed into something, but everything hurts too much to tell. She has the dim, slightly manic thought that she imagined death being more soothing. It was anything but soothing right now. She hears someone scream her name. Everything hurts too much to identify the voice but she feels an immense sense of comfort wash over her as she slips into the darkness.


	3. Chapter Three: A Father’s Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader: PastelAgender

Optimus cradles Aurora close while Ironhide, Lennox, and  _ Annabelle _ ,of all people, cover his position. He chirps out quiet prayers in Cybertronian to Primus, praying for Him to help his daughter hold on to life until he can fall back to the human medical tent. He moves carefully and steadily backward, doing everything he can to prevent Aurora from jostling too much as he puts distance between them and her attacker. He refuses to think about how the Ingrux that attacked Aurora is still just a juvenile. He cannot afford to falter now. 

Soon Trailbreaker crashes into the battle, driving the Ingrux further back and putting up a shield between the Prime and the Fight. This gives Optimus an opening to stand and turn, moving more quickly on his long legs instead of crawling. He tries to keep his upper body still as possible but he has to trade some smooth movement for more speed in the end.

He slides smoothly onto his knees next to the tiny medical tent the human medic team is in, carefully putting Aurora on one of the tiny berths. He first chirps out in Cybertronian, his vocalizer clicking as he has to make a physical effort to switch back to English.

“Doc-doctor. Aurora needs a Doctor.” He pleads, Dr. June Darby quickly rushed over at his call.

She gently but firmly pushes his big servos out of her way as she leans down to start examining Aurora. She curses colorfully in English and some highschool level Spanish as she catalogs what’s visible from the surface. 

Fixit rolls over with a scanner he’s calibrated to take scans of human internals. It has less drawbacks than an x-ray and all the benefits of one. He gives a few colorful, if mixed up, cybertronian curses as he notes how many broken bones are visible on the screen.

Optimus is called away back to the battle, Dr. Darby giving him a firm glare telling him there’s nothing he can do to help here so he has to get out of her way. He rushes off spending the rest of the battle praying to Primus his youngest will be okay.


	4. Chapter Four: Primus Given Miracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader: PastelAgender

After the battle ends they gather in the basement of the base, the only area that is still mostly standing. Even the injured humans have been, carefully, moved down here where it’s marginally safer than on the surface.

Prowl is overclocking his systems trying to figure out how the base was discovered, because until they plug the leak it’s almost no safer to leave the compromised location than to just reinforce what’s left and remain. 

Jazz is off hunting through the forest for any other survivors; Cybertronian, Human, or Ingrux. His systems silent despite the fury his field is lashing out with at anyone that gets too close. His friends, his  _ family _ have been hurt today and this is all he can presently do to help.

Optimus sits back against the wall, battlemask retracted as he stares down at the tiny human in his servos. June had already informed him with much regret there was nothing human medicine could do for her injuries except keep the pain at bay. She was currently in a coma, one she was unlikely to ever wake up from.

Ratchet comes to sit with his oldest friend after he’s certain he’s done everything he can for the injured cybertronians. He stares down at Aurora, vocalizer buzzing with static as he tries to cling to the last remnants of his Medical Coding to stay calm.

“Maybe there is something Cybertronian medicine can do?” He manages to choke out, slightly desperate. They have all lost so much, they can’t lose Aurora too.

Optimus shakes his helm lifting his helm to look at Ratchet with wet optics.

“You are a Cybertronian Medic not a Human Doctor, you’ve said so yourself many times. What can we possibly do? Her frame- Her body is too damaged to heal.” He shifts, pressing his shoulder into Ratchet’s, frame shaking as he fights not to sob.

“This frame… but what if… what if she had a new one?” Ratchet stares down at the human, mind already whirling with plans.

“Humans do not have sparks they can transfer into a new frame, old friend. Their souls are not apt to change.” Optimus murmurs sadly.

“Ah but what if they could?” Shockwave says moving quickly to join them.

“I do not think we can give humans something they do not already have...” Optimus sighs, though the matrix seems to hum with disagreement at that assessment.

“The Matrix can create sparks can it not? Who is to say it could not transform a soul into a spark?” Shockwave questions clasping his servos together.

Optimus opens his intake to disagree but a sharp almost pain from the Matrix has him pausing to consult the wisdom of Prime’s past. He slowly nods lifting his helm to look at Shockwave then Ratchet.

“It… it might be possible? No one has ever tried with a human but… in the past… with other organics… It just may work. But… she needs a new frame, at the very least a protoform.” He explains, voice getting more hopeful with every word.

Ratchet nods firmly, standing up.

“We’ll take care of that… Until then.. Keep her safe and comfortable.” He says, grabbing Shockwave’s arm and dragging him off to collect what they will need to make an adult protoform.

\---

It takes several days to get the frame together, they don’t exactly have access to a traditional forage used in cold constructing. There’s a bit of a buzz going through the base on whether or not this crazy plan is going to work. While Ratchet isn’t given to insane plans, Shockwave has some weird ideas knocking around his helm.

Despite the excitement rolling through everyone, Ratchet barrs anyone except for himself, Shockwave, Optimus, Elita and June Darby from being present for the attempt. Even that is more than he really wanted but you don’t argue with protective femmes.

“So how is this going to work exactly? You put her body in the metal body and it just… what?” June asks fussing with the iv lines attached to Aurora.

“No… I am uncertain the exact process, none of the Prime of Old were very clear on how it works just that if I held Aurora up to the Matrix it would take over from there.” Optimus murmurs looking at the blank protoform that will hopefully be his daughter at the end of the day.

“So it will just… just turn her into one of you without her consent because she was exposed to it??” June asks, trying her best to keep the judgement out of her voice and failing slightly.

“I… I don’t know. Dr. Darby I just don’t know. But… but if this were Jack wouldn’t you want the chance?” He questions looking down at the human Doctor.

Her hands still and she sighs a little.

“It’s… a hotly debated thing. But… I suppose as a mother… yes. I’d want to do anything to keep Jack…” She looks up at Optimus smiling sadly.

“I hope it works… or if nothing else it gives you closure somehow.” She backs away to watch from a safe location.

Optimus carefully picks up Aurora’s sleeping form, lifting her up to be level with his chest plates as he initiates the transformation sequence that will bare the Matrix, and his spark. The room steadily fills with more light than seemingly should be given off by the Matix, temporarily blinding all the occupants. After what seems like an eternity but could be no longer than a few minutes the light dissipates and Optimus’ chest plates close seemingly without his command.

He looks down at his servos, spark nearly stopping when there’s nothing but some medical equipment clutched in between his digits. Before he can panic there’s a triumphant cry from Ratchet and Shockwave. Then a surprised gasp from his sparkmate, causing his optics to snap to the frame laying in front of him.

Where there previously was a blank protoform now lays a light femme frame, tinted transpersteel fins are attached to her helm. She has what appears to be an optic guard sitting on the top of her helm. He watches with amazement as the frame quickly gains colors, a soft pastel color palette of Blues, Pinks, Yellows and Greens. The monitor next to the bert that had been displaying blank vitals was now lit up with a flurry of spark activity.

Spark activity! It worked…

“...It worked...” He breaths in amazement, dropping to his knees and grapping the slight femme’s right servo. The matrix buzzes pleased with itself in his chest before dimming to return to dormancy.

Elita drops to her own knees beside him gripping his arm as she sobs with relief, their daughter will be okay. She’ll  _ live _ .


End file.
